Judaism isn't just about you or me; it is about us. A covenant HaShem didn’t make only with Avraham and Moshe. It was made with all of us, the Jewish people.
Our holy Temple, the Beis HaMikdash, was destroyed, and the Jewish people were scattered around the world. But our faith didn’t stop there. We built schools, yeshivas, kollels, shuls, and mikvehs. Three times a day, men show up in shul to daven, to connect to HaShem.
The Torah isn’t just a scroll; it’s a blueprint for how to live, the Talmud a 1,500-year-old debate and record of disagreements. Many other nations have faded and no longer exist. We, the Jewish people, survived--but not just that, we adapted, and above all, we remembered who we are.
Judaism isn’t about crusades, forced conversions, or wanting to build empires. Judaism is about the Torah, the mitzvos, halacha, mezuzahs, Pesach, shiurim, and davening.
Whether we are Ashkenazi or Sephardi, observant or non-observant, Baal Teshuvah or a convert ‐‐ whether we stay or leave the fold--we all have different backgrounds; we all have our struggles; we all share the same fears and anxieties through uncertainties.
We are a people with whom HaShem made a covenant. We are a people so strong, resilient, but often divided by our differences in the communities we grew up in--the rules and regulations, the level of observance, or non-observance at all. We argue over little things, sometimes over political issues among ourselves; sometimes we just don’t hear each other.
The Torah teaches us our responsibilities in partnership with HaShem. Engaging in Torah learning is fighting spiritually to protect the nation. The Torah protects us, shields us, and saves us as much as the IDF and the Iron Dome do. Our mission is to be a light unto the nations. Together, in unity, we will shine so bright that darkness is, in reality, the brightest light to be revealed.
There was always a part of us who were fighting when needed and a part of us who were davening and learning. While Yehoshua was fighting, Moshe was praying. They prevailed through Moshe lifting his hands up toward heaven while Yehoshua’s men were fighting. It was working together that made them stronger.
Learning and davening--through action, body, and soul-is walking in the ways of HaShem.
The Baal Teshuvah writes his or her own story, building life from the inside out--excessively devout but always sincere. They need to be guided, to take one mitzvah at a time. Welcome the Baal Teshuvah into Klal Yisroel. Guide them, learn Torah with them, teach halacha and mitzvos. Don’t forget that they may have no knowledge of our customs, rules, and regulations.
A convert who has observed the mitzvos for some years--invited to Shabbos and Yontif, learning Torah--but still, a life of Torah observance 24/7 is no comparison to the life they lived before. The challenge they create for themselves is a long path full of obstacles, ups and downs, falling and getting up again. Finally, they stand before Beis Din, the mikveh, and paperwork signed and sealed. From that moment, life as a Jew begins--but it isn’t that simple. Want to know why? Read the story of Kylie Ora Lobell
HaShem chose us, gave us His Torah, which we accepted as the only nation among all nations--a covenant HaShem made with us. He gave us 613 mitzvos. A mitzvah to love our fellow Jew is one of them.
Our love for the Torah and our love for HaShem are incomplete when we don’t have love for our fellow Jew.
All our actions are meant to be done for HaShem. When we treat each other with chesed and help one another with our inner struggles, that is Avodas HaShem.